GIANT SIZE X-MEN #3 REVIEW

[Robin Lewis]

Reviewer: Robin Lewis, lucillerobin@aol.com
Story Title: Teamwork, Enter the Avengers, We Have to Fight the X-Men and Along Came a Spider.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Writers: Joss Whedon, Stan Lee and Roy Thomas
Artists: Neal Adams, Jack Kirby and Werner Roth
Inks: Chic Stone and Dan Adkins
Colorist: Richard Isanove,
Letterers: Chris Eliopoulos, S Rosen, Art Simek and Jerry Feldmann
Cover Artists: Dave Cockrum, John Cassaday and Laur Martin
Assistant Editors: Sean Ryan & Jen Grunwald
Associate Editor: Nick Lowe
Editors: Mike Marts & Jeff Youngquist
Director of Sales: David Gabriel
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley

Did anyone else have the impression that this was going to be a new full length Whedon story? Was it just me? Whether it was just me being optimistic and delusional, or Marvel being deliberately hazy on the details, it turns out that this is an eight-page story by Whedon and Neal Adams, followed by reprints of X-Men #9, Fantastic Four #28 and X-Men #35. The reprints are all crossovers with other teams or characters. They meet the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man, and, as is the way of things back in the Golden Age, they fight them under highly questionable circumstances. Ah, the good old days. Actually, given that Marvel are still making heroes fight each other for incredibly stupid reasons (as in the mini-series X4), maybe things haven't changed that much.

The short story from Whedon is very nice, for what it is. It's an eight-page Danger Room tale set just before Claremont's incarnation of the team took flight, with the X-Men fighting amongst themselves for, yes, highly doubtful reasons. There's a perfectly acceptable underlying message to the story (they'll have to work at being a team), but it's fairly insubtantial stuff. It would feel at home as the back-up story to an annual, or an issue of X-Men Unlimited. Neal Adams art is fine, if a little sketchy at times. As you can tell, there's not a great deal to say about this story. It's fine, but not much of a reason to shell out the bucks to buy this weighty comic. Which leaves us with the reprints. Hmmm.

Obviously Stan Lee and Jack Kirby are giants in the industry, responsible for shaping the landscape of comics as we know it. They created some of the most important characters that comics have to offer, and revolutionised storytelling in the medium. That said, the tales here aren't so great. A great deal of Golden Age stuff has aged very badly indeed, even though one can appreciate reading comics that are the root of many things we read today. There are some unintentional laughs to be had. It's the first time I can remember anyone calling Thor a 'square', for a start. Rather than jump over a hole, Jean feels she has to telekinetically place a log under her foot so she doesn't slip. The X-Men let a murderous psycho who was close to destroying a continent go without consequences, because they're far to nice to actually cause injury to another being. Spider-Man happens by the X-Men just as they are warned about a myserious 'spider' that will attack them, and they, of course, set about him with the beating and the zapping. Dialogue is, to say the least, of its time. There are still some fun lines here (Spider-Man is still making with the funnies), and wonderfully over-the-top captions, but there are also plenty of speeches describing exactly what the artist is already showing. "It knocked off the corner of the mill!", says Spider-Man, in a panel that shows the bad guy knocking off the corner off the mill. Those who mourn the loss of thought-balloons will love it. I know, I know. I should have more respect for the past. On the other hand, it's the past, and maybe it should stay there. What's that old saying? Never go back?

So, who is this comic for, exactly? Completists who don't want to let Joss Whedon's eight pages go uncollected? Readers who want a taste of Golden Age comics but don't want to shell out for a Masterworks edition? Suckers with too much money? If you aren't one of the above, I reckon you can skip it.

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‘Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save!’

[Rictor]

Well the cover artwork is terrible but at least the book is being released as a stand-alone. Remember X-Men #109 where all the x-men christmas stories were bundled into a giant-size issue? That didnt sit well with me at all.

AWFUL AWFUL break-up scene between Warren and Betsy, Storm going all xtreme, Sam battling Gladiator and Kitty being scared witless. Fine stories to be sure (apart from the Angel/Psylocke bit), but on the whole, the issue seemed like a bit of a continuity glitch.

And more Whedon is always a good thing, regardless of whatever form it takes.

[wondercharlie]

Whedon is overrated.Yet, I buy Astonishing out of X-loyalty and I am a copletist.

[Anand Khatri]

Originally Posted by Robin Lewis

So, who is this comic for, exactly? Completists who don't want to let Joss Whedon's eight pages go uncollected? Readers who want a taste of Golden Age comics but don't want to shell out for a Masterworks edition? Suckers with too much money? If you aren't one of the above, I reckon you can skip it.[/URL]

Thankfully I decided not to get this. As for the Masterworks, I plan to buy them soon when I save up some extra money. Till then I borrow them from the Local Public Library to read.

btw...Great Review Robin!

[James Groves]

I was incredibly disappointed that Marvel seemed to be simply regurgitating old material within this comic. They added some bonus material in the form of Whedon's storyline (which was unsatisfying to say the least), to attract readers into buying it.

8 pages though was shocking. If they had charged me the respective prices for these reprints when they were released together at the time (probably about 20p? ) with what 8 pages of new storyline would be today, i may have bought it. But i'd rather get the essential volumes for a nolstagia trip!

I was going to buy it...flicked through it in my shop...saw eight pages of new storyline...then saw the many, many pages of reprinted material...and placed it back on the shelves.

Seemed like a marketing scam. Were the previous Giant Size X-Men issues filled with reprinted, old material? I cant remember... But this i was sorely disappointed in.

[emesem]

i also was fooled into buying this garbage. Thanks, marvel!

[Robb Welch]

waste of money

[Mario J. Ramos]

Originally Posted by Robin Lewis

So, who is this comic for, exactly? Completists who don't want to let Joss Whedon's eight pages go uncollected? Readers who want a taste of Golden Age comics but don't want to shell out for a Masterworks edition? Suckers with too much money? If you aren't one of the above, I reckon you can skip it.

You mean Silver Age, right? The Marvel "era" (X-men, FF, Spider-man, Daredevil, Hulk, etc) started in the 60's, which is in the Silver Age.

[WolverAce]

Whether it was just me being optimistic and delusional, or Marvel being deliberately hazy on the details

I think they wanted to capitalise on the succes of the first GiantSized X-Men.
From the look of the cover and the hype surrounding it.
Yep, Marvel was going for the quick buck.
Yep, I ordered it on the premise of a Whedon story and so I bought it.

Ah, well

[Dylan McKay]

What made the first Giant Sized X-Men work, was that it was actually a giant sized issue, not a ****ing reprint anthology...

But really, what's the point of being giant sized if you're an ex-man? I'd still rather go for a giant sized man thing.

[Cloud]

Man was I disappointed!! I almost wanted to go back after 2 minutes of reading. Since that was the time it took to finish the story. Giant-Size my ***. They should've called it Reprint-Size + 8 extra pages.

I'm really pissed. Forget this book and buy about 20 copies of G.I. Joe: America's Elite! (for the same price as a total) and spread 'em around amongst friends.

[monsterx]

Originally Posted by Dylan McKay

What made the first Giant Sized X-Men work, was that it was actually a giant sized issue, not a ****ing reprint anthology...

But really, what's the point of being giant sized if you're an ex-man? I'd still rather go for a giant sized man thing.

Tell me what you truely think about the comic... Man from all the reviews I would be smart not to buy this comic but..... I LOVE NEAL ADAMS!!! So im buying it!

[Gary Miller]

Good, solid Neal Adams art, and a pretty solid story by Joss Whedon that was originally designed to run in between chapters of a new reprint of Giant-Size X-Men #1. (Although Wolverine wasn't really a team player then, and if he's the epitome of testosterone, why's he wearing a pink shirt?) It's nice to have the reprints here in color, separate from my B&W Essentials. It was a shame that Dave Cockrum couldn't do the 8 pages due to health reasons. However, $5 is a bit pricey (even with the 30% discount I get, it still stings).

Previously, a good number of the 70s-era Giant-Size books were at least half-reprints, and some were all-reprints (Dr. Strange, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, etc., etc.). GSXM #1 was pretty much all-original material, but #2 was all-reprints (Neal Adams Sentinel stories IIRC). Looks like we'll be in for another round of torture with a new 8-page Chris Claremont & Paul Smith X-Men tale in Giant-Size X-Men #4, and Spider-Woman gets the Giant-Size treatment (no, I'm not just talking about the apparent boob job on the cover ) soon, with an 8-pager by Bendis and Rick (used to work at my comic shop) Mays, with all reprints to fill out the rest.

Worth the money, depending on your discount...that's the best I can put it. Even if you're a hardcore Whedon fan, you might be better served by getting the super-cool variant of Astonishing #10 this week instead. (No, really, the Cassaday cover looks sweet.)

~G.

[Robin Lewis]

Oops. Yeah, I meant Silver Age. That's what I said. Sort of.

[Veritas]

I believe I have fallen into the sucker's category...dammit.

[Zacek]

Did anyone else enjoy the "Monster" issues that came out some years ago for a few Marvel titles? I thought the idea was great: a normal-sized new story with two or three reprints included from issues with links to the current storyline. It was a little bit more expensive, but I thought it was worth it.

[Northstar79]

i was almost tricked into buying this, thanx for the heads-up! i won't be wasting my money on it. i have no desire to read re-prints.

[Wolverine]

Does this actually reprint the lead story of Giant Sized X-men 1?

[Anya]

No, that would make too much sense.

Originally Posted by Veritas

I believe I have fallen into the sucker's category...dammit.

*Sigh*, me too. Reprints aren't a big things, bought them before, I just like to know when I'm buying them.

[Vyns]

I picked it up flipped through it, and put it back down.

No Sucker here,

Hrmmm but I did pick up that first issue of the X-Men/Fantastic 4 crossover.

[WolverAce]

(Although Wolverine wasn't really a team player then, and if he's the epitome of testosterone, why's he wearing a pink shirt?)

Hadn't noticed that. So true.

Looks like we'll be in for another round of torture with a new 8-page Chris Claremont & Paul Smith X-Men tale in Giant-Size X-Men #4

Yep, checked previews last night. And damnit, since we have to order these things in advance...you guessed it

and Spider-Woman gets the Giant-Size treatment (no, I'm not just talking about the apparent boob job on the cover )

If a boobjob gets you a giant-size, heck, the whole flaming female Marvel U will get one.

[Gary Miller]

Originally Posted by Wolverine

Does this actually reprint the lead story of Giant Sized X-men 1?

Nope, but according to Joss Whedon in a recent issue of Wizard, that was originally the aim. And the Marvel editors wanted a story about the new recruits getting their costumes, that fit between the chapters of GSXM. He nixed that, wrote the current story, which at first went to Dave Cockrum, but he fell ill, so it went to Neal Adams, and by that time the reprint contents were shifted so it no longer reprinted GSXM #1, so...

To quote Austin Powers, "Oh, no! I've gone cross-eyed!"

~G.

[Robb Welch]

Originally Posted by Dylan McKay

But really, what's the point of being giant sized if you're an ex-man? I'd still rather go for a giant sized man thing.

I love you.

Originally Posted by Zacek

Did anyone else enjoy the "Monster" issues that came out some years ago for a few Marvel titles? I thought the idea was great: a normal-sized new story with two or three reprints included from issues with links to the current storyline. It was a little bit more expensive, but I thought it was worth it.

Those were AWESOME

[Captain America]

I liked Whedon's story, he certainly demonstrated his good grip on Wolverine's character - 70's Wolverine didn't act quite like that for a while, but in an ideal world (i.e. had the writers known at the time of his past adventures, etc.) that's how he'd have been. Anyway, good stuff, I was pleasantly surprised as to how enjoyable the art was, too.

Not had a chance to look at the reprint material, good it's nice to read the old stuff now and again.

What's this about Giant-Size #4? Other than another 8 page story, does anyone know exactly what'll be in it?

[Gary Miller]

Originally Posted by Captain America

What's this about Giant-Size #4? Other than another 8 page story, does anyone know exactly what'll be in it?

From the solicitation available over at Comixfan's Crystal Ball:

GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #4
Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT
Penciled by PAUL SMITH
New Cover by PAUL SMITH
Featuring Classic Reprints by CHRIS CLAREMONT, LEN WEIN, DAVE COCKRUM & JOHN BOLTON

Ode to an old soldier! In celebration of super-scribe Chris Claremont's 30th anniversary chronicling the adventures of Marvel's Merry Mutants comes this colossal collection of classic tales - plus a brand-new 8-page story by Claremont and fan-favorite X-artist Paul Smith! Featuring Thunderbird's death at the hands of Count Nefaria in X-Men #94-95 (August/October 1975), a eulogy for the fallen hero in Classic X-Men #3 (November 1986) and his younger brother's attempt to exact revenge on the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #193 (May 1985).

96 PGS./T+ SUGGESTED FOR TEENS AND UP …$4.99

~G.